JOHN HIGGINS produced an awesome display to march into the British Open final at Brighton - and put it down to a small piece of wood.

Higgins has struggled since winning the title three years ago, but a slight alteration to his cue has worked wonders.

He needed only 74 minutes to beat Shaun Murphy 6-0, completing victory with a magnificent 144 total clearance.

"Steve Davis said my action was far too long," said Higgins. "I ignored it at first but I realised my cue was longer than need be. It was 58 inches and when I was winning titles it was 57 and a quarter.

"I had the cue altered - it's helped my mind-set and eradicated some of my misses."

Murphy scored only 10 points in the first three frames as Higgins took control, winning the third with a break of 114.

In the fourth, Higgins luckily snookered Murphy on the pink before potting it for 4-0.

Higgins then ran through the fifth with a break of 89 and set a new high-break target with a 144, which supersedes his 141 from an earlier round.

The 28-year-old Scot confirmed he would take part in the final against Ronnie O'Sullivan or Stephen Maguire, even though his wife Denise is heavily pregnant.